21-year-old songwriter Elliot Moss has generated lots of recent buzz, mainly
on the basis of his sonically-alluring debut, Highspeeds (self-produced).
It’s rare, in fact, to find songs so incredibly intense and altogether quirky,
maybe because musicians interested in intensity tend to stick with traditional genres, while those reaching for originality go for trickery. Either
way, Moss’ breakout single, “Slip,” is bare-edged and soulful, despite its
vocoded vocals. It almost sounds, in fact, like the masculine flip-side of
Laurie Anderson’s “O Superman.” (paolo de gregorio)

Feel-good riffs and dancy rhythms constitute the majority of Kuroma’s first
full-band record, Kuromarama. The Athens/Brooklyn quartet was conceived
in 2008 by MGMT’s current guitarman Hank Sullivant, but only congealed
last year when they enlisted James Richardson, Will Berman (both of
MGMT), and Simon O’Connor (of Amazing Baby) as permanent members.
The results show the whole to be greater than the sum of its many parts.
First single, “Love Is on the Way” is an island-flavored ‘80s-style bacchanalia that, like the rest of the album, oscillates between the hearty and the
way-out. (JP Basileo)

Photo: Amber Simiriglia

Despite rumors of a mass exodus out of NYC, we recently snagged
Mackenzie Scott (of songwriting project Torres) from Nashville—cause for
celebration. For if there’s something dangerous happening, she’s touching
it. On songs like “Honey” and “Cowboy Guilt,” Scott sings couplets over
and over until every inch of grace and tolerance are replaced by shrieks of
pure madness. In the past, Torres gigged with Lady Lamb the Beekeeper
and worked with Sharon Van Etten. Now they headline Brooklyn Night
Bazaar and Bowery Ballroom. Sophomore album Sprinter was released on
May 7. (Leora Mandel)

Mark Twain once said: “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little
or no influence on society.” Brooklyn-via-Minneapolis trio Strange Names
know a little something about that. Eschewing nudity (or musical austerity,
at least), the band’s Hall and Oates-like soul-pop has injected new life into
NYC’s decade-old ‘80s revival. New video “Ricochet” conjures the hedonic,
strobing minimalism of early MTV, minus the technological glitches (which
could go either way). The trio released their debut LP in May after opening
for Azelia Bank on four dates. (paolo de gregorio)

honduras

Kudos to Brooklyn indie rockers Honduras, who were first hand-picked by
Blur to open for them at a May 1st live show at Rough Trade, then, a few
weeks later, opened for METZ and Fidlar at Bowery. Honduras also recently
unleashed a new single, titled “Paralyzed,” which bears more than a passing
likeness to a home-grown New Jersey favorite: the Feelies. (There’s also hints
of Blur during their more frenetic days here.) Pop-punk choruses spice these
rock anthems with plenty of crossover potential. (paolo de gregorio)
10

the deli Spring 2015

oshun

In the video for “#,” hip-hop duo OSHUN—nee Niambi Sala and Thandiwe—
resurrect the time-tested spirit of Public Enemy. And though they flaunt the
shibboleth of Afrocentrism in lines like, “No this ain’t conspiracy/We know
we ain’t equal/This the revolution, motherfucker/This the sequel,” there is
complexity to their locus. Topical songs, once schlepped out to mark new
periods of revolution, are now a staple of pop as much as the underground.
Either way, OSHUN have taken the temperature of the times and declared
it red hot. (Jason Grimste)